Bullying in a pediatric alopecia areata population: A survey study

Summary: Abstract Body: The California Bully Victimization Scale (CBVS) is a validated self-reported scale that measures bullying, defined as a subset of peer aggression and victimization with victims reporting at least one victimization behavior at least 2-3 times per month and at least one form of power imbalance. The purpose of our study was to assess pediatric bullying in alopecia areata (AA) patients using the CBVS and to compare against population norms. We conducted a single-site, survey study using a modified CBVS. The survey was administered between September 25, 2023 to November 25, 2024 to pediatric patients in grades 5-12 who received a diagnosis of AA from a board-certified dermatologist in the pediatric hair disease clinic. Twenty-four pediatric AA patients were enrolled in our study with the average grade being 5.0. Fourteen (58.3%) respondents reported that they had experienced teasing, name calling, rumors/gossip, being left out/ignored on purpose, being physically hurt, threatened, sexual comments/jokes/gestures, stolen/damaged items, or Internet teasing/rumors/threats in the past month. Teasing/name calling and being left out of a group/ignored on purpose were the most common forms of victimization experienced. Of the 14 children who had experienced these acts in the past month, 25% met the definition of bullying indicated by their aggressor. When asked where and when they experienced victimizations, the most common location and time were in hallways (n=8, 33.3%) and during breaks (n=8, 33.3%), respectively. When asked who knows about these victimizations taking place, 50.0% (n=7) told an adult at home while 12.5% (n=3) told no one. AA is a common autoimmune disease among the pediatric population. Although approximately half of AA pediatric patients reported peer aggression, only 25% met the definition of bullying. Compared to the general population, similar bullying rates were found in this sample of AA pediatric patients. Maria Teachout¹, Ora Raymond¹, Kim T. Nguyen¹, Mikhail Usovich¹, Katelyn Rypka¹, Kristina Gorbatenko-Roth¹, Charlotte LaSenna², Maria Hordinsky¹ 1. Dermatology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, United States. 2. Dermatology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States. Clinical Research: Epidemiology and Observational Research